Dutch experiment with euthanasia a warning

Most of us are familiar with the term "slippery slope." Normally it is used by those opposing a movement or piece of legislation. However, Professor Theo Boer, a Dutch early proponent of euthanasia/assisted suicide, has warned Britain's House of Lords not to pass an assisted-suicide law, saying they would embark on a "slippery slope."

Professor Boer, a medical ethicist, was in a unique position for seeing how the Dutch euthanasia/assisted suicide law, enacted in 2002, actually worked. While deaths remained stable in the early years, they doubled in 2008 and have increased since then. Professor Boer said that "euthanasia is on the way to becoming a default mode of dying for cancer patients, and there has been a sharp increase in deaths of people with psychiatric illness or dementia, and those simply suffering from grief, loneliness or age."

In 2005, euthanasia of newborns and young children was allowed. In 2012, 7 percent of the deaths were done without the explicit consent of the patient. There have been other undeniable signs of a serious ethical slide due to the law. For example, the Dutch Right to Die Society now sends out teams of euthanasia doctors to end the lives of those who have been denied an induced death by their own doctors. This same organization is also relentlessly campaigning for a "lethal pill" for anyone over 70 years of age.

We might ask what this has to do with us? There are four states that have legalized euthanasia/assisted suicide - Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont. Undoubtedly this issue will surface in Illinois. If it does we would be wise to remember Professor Boer's pleading and also heed the words of G.K. Chesterton: "Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up."

Richard Kaiser

Elk Grove Village